Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

Terrible. Came in with party of 10 at 4:00 p.m. After waiting a few minutes with dozens of tables available, a server said my manager told me to tell you it would be a 45 minute wait. Party too big. What a joke? Manager couldn’t even break bad news. I will never go back to OG again. Anywhere.

Olive Garden on Renner is my «relax away from work» getaway during the lunch period. I love the atmosphere here. Yes it’s a chain but I’m more comfy than usual. Maybe because it’s brighter inside and I can see better.
Fast fast fast service. Food fabulous as usual. One thing… I realize it’s a corporate roll out thing … But I do not like the table units where I need to check myself out or order food myself. I expect a mid to higher class experience from OG. These units cheapen my experience more like a bar. Just does not fit.
Overall come on in. Sit and relax… And ignore the serve yourself kiosks, lol.

Mother’s Day at a chain Italian restaurant! I know what you are thinking… we are crazy! Well you’re right but besides that point the wait staff was excellent. We had a party of 12 with 3 kids that made a mess of the joint (nieces and nephews).
Mark M. and TJ did a great job navigating us through this madness as out waiters. They had a great since of humor and noticed a portion/​presentation issue with my particular meal (lasagna and stuffed rigatoni duo). TJ addressed it with the kitchen manager without my prompting. The portion size is admit-​ably small but filling but the plating was poor. They brought me an additional portion which I will make a meal of tomorrow. :)
I will make sure that their efforts are recognized monetarily for their struggle with my group.
Thank you gentlemen for making my Mom’s day pleasant despite my family lol

Stopped by for their unlimited soup/​salad/​breadsticks deal, which was a bit more expensive than I’ve had in other locations. To be fair, it’s less than a $ 5 difference, which isn’t really that bad considering that you’re literally getting as much food as you can stuff into your stomach in that time, but still a bit of a downer.
Nonetheless, their service is incredibly fast and friendly, and their breadsticks are just so warm and savory and comforting and beautiful and glorious… (yeah, can you tell what my main reason for coming here is?)
I can’t justify to my waistline coming here more often than maybe once a month (last time I was here, I ate probably 8 breadsticks alone, on top of 2 bowls of soup and at least 2 bowls of salad), but whenever I do, I leave with 100% satisfied tastebuds.

Went at about 4pm on a weekday and got the soup salad and bread sticks for me and a friend. The waiter was fantastically prompt at refills and great with our Outlandish bread stick demands. I have had recent problems with olive gardens having hard unlovable bread sticks– luckily this place still seems to be making them well and soft! Sadly it does cost extra to take a few home now days at least at this location.
I will definitely make this my new post-​exam spot!

Not to sound mean, but this area is pure hilljack. Seeing that, I wasn’t expecting much going in, as that’s a whole different subculture of people.
It was kind of busy — gf & I waited about 15 – 20 min which was fine. Asked for booth, hostess said ok, but we were sat at a table. Whatever, I’m flexible & hungry, I’ll deal with it.
Server took forever to get to us, but was friendly. The breadsticks were never fresh & soft; they were on the harder side each refill. At one point she brought us a basket, saying, «I snagged you the last breadsticks.» Uh well thanks, but that means they’ve been sitting forever, & sure enough they were metal rods. How hard is it to comprehend bread? Our first helping of salad was about as bare as an Ethiopian’s pantry. Thankfully she put more in the second time.
My entrée was good, but the kitchen forgot to add a second Italian sausage, so they brought that out later. I didn’t mind as I was still working on the first in my spaghetti. My gf’s steak in her entrée was rare instead of medium, & she ended up having to waste two big pieces as the others were cooked ok. How do you cook steak that unevenly?
Overall it was an ok trip, but I’ll definitely be trying other locations instead.

Mediocre in general. Iceberg lettuce drowned in dressing, hard breadsticks, seafood pappardelle had tasteless sauce and some unopened clams. Left most of the pasta in the plate. Was bounced between waitress and hostess for service.

Great service for a very large group. Everything was hot and well prepared. For the kids in our group they were extra attentive. I appreciate that. Fun night out today.

Well. I wish I could have actually complained about the food, but unfortunately our trip was a very short one. We just wanted to use up a gift card that was burning a hole in our pocket since last year.
We came here on an afternoon after lunch rush, and right before dinner rush, because we knew there would be plenty of seating and no wait.
Well… apparently something Olive Garden enjoys is making people actually wait for their mediocre and subpar food despite the fact that there was over half of the restaurant sitting vacant. I understand maybe the servers were trying to get caught up, but from my previous experience in the food industry, and by the fact they were clearly overstaffed up front with 4+ hostesses standing around… All they would of had to do was seat us, take our drink order and then tell us it would be a few minutes while our server caught up. Most ANY human being would agree that is a reasonable situation.
Well… we waited for five minutes while the hostesses looked around, talked amongst themselves, THEN one finally decided to seat us.
The unpleasant part is that she tried to sit us smack dab in between two tables that were squashed in very tight, because of the larger patrons on both sides of us. making it possible for anyone to sit there. let alone pull out the chair. I requested that we be moved. We weren’t rude about it. SHE realized what she had done, and any reasonable hostess would have realized seating us there would not have worked.
Cue in… Deer in headlights look from the hostess. then… «uh… uh…» My husband pointed at another table and said, «How about there?»
Again. I paid my dues working front of the house in the food industry… Any reasonable staff would have said, «Sure! That’s fine!» This girl was stuck on her seating chart… heaven forbid she sit us somewhere off of the current seating chart and enrage the wrath of a server! They might as well lynch her.
So. we’re making our way over to that table… trying to squeeze through the groups of people when she goes… «How about here!» And points across the room making us have to squeeze rudely past the groups of people AGAIN, so I said Eff’ that… Why was I torturing myself over just wanting to be sat somewhere for nearly ten minutes for this shitty mediocre food.
I give up, Hostess!
You thoroughly suck!
I get the hint… I’m leaving!
You won!
And that concludes the 15 minute trip to Olive Garden minus any food. which might be a good thing anyways.

First impression is key. Right? Well my first impression isn’t very good of this Olive Garden. How can you mess up a to-​go order this easy.
«Classic Spaghetti and meatballs»
I get spaghetti and sausage links!
Grade: F

Standard Olive Garden food and service. Nothing exceptional or insanely substandard about this one.

Yesterday (Sunday) we were heading from shopping on Rome-​Hilliard to Local Cantina in Grandview and made a spur-​of-​the-​moment decision to lunch here instead since it’s close to home. Live and learn. It was just okay. The all-​you-​can eat salad is okay. The breadsticks are okay. The pasta dishes were okay. Our server was very sweet and did a great job. I’ll mention her when I complete the survey online (from the receipt). We did like the little carafes («quartinos») of wine, which is a good deal and nicer than just a ½ glass restaurants normally serve. We probably won’t be back, because there are so many better places to eat in Cbus. We wouldn’t have spent nearly as much money if we had gone to Local Cantina, even counting gas money.

I was in the mood for Italian yesterday and after watching a couple of OG commercials I hopped in my car and drove over there. But things are never as good as they look. ;) The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.
I had the «tour of Italy» which came with fettucine Alfredo, lasagne, and chicken parmeasan. I also had soup instead of a salad. And the best thing I ate were the garlic bread sticks. They were great. No room for dessert though, I was too full.

This was our third trip to this location and boy have they improved over time. Our first trip was very disappointing. This was during their opening week and things were not running smoothly. When we arrived we were told it was about a 45 minute wait. I walked though the restaurant and found about 15 open tables and only about 5 – 8 parties waiting. We waited and the service was poor and the food was so-​so. The next 2 trips have been in the past month and have shown great improvement to both service and food. Our latest visit was this past Friday. We arrived around 5:00 and were seated immediately. Drinks orders were taken very quickly and brought to the table nearly immediately. We ordered an appetizer and our dinners. Usually this scares me to order both at the same time. It never fails that both our dinner and the appetizer arrives at the same time. But not this time. Our Salad came out followed shortly by the appetizer. Our dinner followed shortly after we finished our salads and the appetizer. There were 4 of us dinning that evening and all were very satisfied with what we ordered. And I must say we all ordered very different types of dinners. One thing that really stood out to us was that everyone really seemed to be working as a team. If we had an empty plate or drink on the table. No matter which waiter or waitress happened to be walking past our table they took care of it immediately. And it’s not like they were standing around looking for things to do. The restaurant was pretty full and they all had their own tables to take care of. Needless to say we will be back.

My grandma likes to me gift cards to Olive Garden for christmas, so we go here about once a year. It never fails to disappoint. Poor quality ingredients, poorly executed.

Went and got the worst service ever. Never will return and should have complained right then and there. My husband and I went held hands and called each other pet names we were obviously a couple and the waiter Emily I believe kept flirting with my husband even go as far as to ask if we’re we’re getting separate checks. She was in the middle of putting my left overs in a doggy bag when my husband decides to take his as well. She stops and puts mine down with out finishing just to put his away first and then proceeds to forget the second half of my plate. Will not return. Whole staff seemed to be teenagers not what I except from Olive Garden.

We went here Saturday to get some food before the late football game. We ordered the smoked fonduta, which was cheesey deliciousness. I got the zuppa toscana, heaven in a bowl, with braised beef tortellini. The guy had picked out an entrée but we had to make sure it did not have onions even though they were not listed in the description. The manager came out and described all the sauces and recommended which ones were in the clear. Spectacular service. He followed up with us throughout the meal to ensure everything was correct and to our liking. They even gave me a cup of soup to go. Lovely evening, only downside was I wished they had offered us dessert, I was thinking about getting one to-​go. Oh well, we will be back!

Our visit started pleasant enough, with no wait and booth seating available at 7:45 pm on a Thursday night. We saw that the current Unilocal rating was 2.5 stars, but we brushed it off as new-​location harshness. Our waitress, Chelsea, was nice and eager to please, but that’s where the niceties ended.
We started our order with crispy-​fried, cheesy risotto balls. The platter of 8 was portion pleasing, but left a certain creamy/​smoothness to be desired. These are not to be confused with the quality, delicious «Arancini» found at Marcella’s in the Short North. I know it seems unfair to compare the two, but with only a dollar difference in price, the lack of quality/​care really shows at this Olive Garden.
Our meals came with the standard «endless» salad and breadsticks, which were just fine (although they appeared on our table 45 seconds after our appetizer). The table felt crowded, but we didn’t mind too much. The salad was adequate and just as expected, but wasn’t given the appropriate time to appreciate, as our dinner orders arrived 3 minutes into our appetizer/​salad/​breadstick course.
My go-​to dish at the OG has always been the Steak Gorgonzola-​Alfredo pasta. Unfortunately the dish served to me was not at all what I have grown accustomed to… there was so much spinach added to the dish it appeared green-​grey in color, and my «medium-​rare» steak medallions arrived well-​done. The gorgonzola was absent, and in it’s place was a over-​abundance of pickled sun-​dried tomatoes. The balsamic drizzle seemed to have been poorly prepared as well, tasting extremely bitter.
Dave ventured out of his comfort zone and ordered the new «Tour de Mare», which at $ 17.25 is one of the highest priced items on the menu. The ravioli was over cooked had a fishy aftertaste. The shrimp scampi fritta was acidic, and the «creamy shrimp alfredo» wasn’t properly saturated with sauce (which had been reheated to the point of separating/​curdling).
Overall, it was our worst experience at an Olive Garden ever. Our water glasses remained empty half the night, and when mine was finally filled, the waitress neglected to fill Dave’s. I would not recommend this venue to anyone, and it definitely was not worth our $ 50 investment.

Its not like the older Olive Garden experience I remember vividly, but that doesn’t mean Olive Garden isn’t good anymore.
I went here recently and the new store is nice. Friendly staff, clean, good food and convenient location makes the deal sweeter. This was the first time in years I have been to an Olive Garden and after it I will be coming back. The menu has changed since I was there last, but the change is fine. This location has been busy since the opening and is nice. Check it out.

Lunch @ 1:00pm
Excellent service. Management was seen which is a plus in my book. Our server was very attentive to our needs.
The manager was stopping at everybody’s tables asking how the food and service was.
This management style will keep this store in business for a long time.
We got the unlimited soup salad & breadsticks $ 7.95 ea.